Wisconsin Sikh temple gunman named as neo-Nazi Wade Michael Page

The man who killed six people after opening fire at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin has been named as former soldier and neo-Nazi white supremacist Wade Michael Page.

The congregation president and priest are believed to be among the victims of the shooting in Wisconsin (Picture: AP)

The 40-year-old was identified by authorities, while the watchdog Southern Poverty Law Centre said Page was a ‘frustrated neo-Nazi’ who was also in a white-supremacist band.

The gunman entered the temple in the suburbs of Milwaukee at around 10:30am yesterday, opening fire in the kitchen where women were preparing a meal, sending worshippers fleeing.

Wade Michael Page has been identified as the gunman (Picture: EPA)

He killed three people inside the temple and three outside before being later shot himself by police.

As well as killing five men aged 41, 49, 62, 39 and 84, and a 41-year-old woman, he critically wounded three others, including police lieutenant Brian Murphy, 51, who was shot eight or nine times at close range but is expected to make a full recovery.

Page is thought to have been heavily tattooed, including some marking the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

‘He had tattoos, I don’t know what the exact markings were, or if they represented any of his beliefs or what they stood for,’ said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Police searched the house of the suspect on Sunday night (Picture: AP)

He opened fire on officers responding to a 911 call about the attack wounding Mt Murphy, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said, before a second officer shot and killed the man.

Authorities confirmed that a 9mm semi-automatic pistol had been used to carry out the attack.

A man waits to hear information about his loved ones on S. Howell Avenue where the shooting occurred (Picture: AP)

A two-storey house in the Cudahy neighbourhood was searched on Sunday night in relation to the attack, which police are treating as a ‘domestic terrorist incident’.

US president Barack Obama said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the attack.